SANTA MARIA - The Santa Barbara County District Attorney has taken the unusual step of challenging a court decision to release a twice-convicted rapist and declared Sexually Violent Predator from prison to a supervised residential treatment facility in Santa Maria.
Tibor Karsai has been convicted twice of forcible rape of young women dating back to 1974 when he was 22 years old.
Now almost 60, a judge in Placer County has ruled Karsai is eligible for prison release as a transient to a supervised residential treatment facility in Santa Maria.
The facility, operated by Liberty Healthcare, is not far from an elementary school and a community park.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley challenged the judge's order and was granted a stay that blocked Karsai's release.
But when the California State Appeals Court ignored the stay and ordered Karsai's release from prison, D.A. Dudley asked the California Supreme Court to intervene.
The Supreme Court has since ordered the appellate court to reconsider Karsai's release and the matter is scheduled to be argued on Wednesday.
Last year Dudley told Central Coast News why her office is mounting the legal challenge against Karsai's release.
"We believe the release to Santa Barbara County is an unlawful one:, Dudley said, "we believe releasing him as transient is dangerous."
Dudley believes Karsai should be released to San Luis Obispo County because Morro Bay was his last known legal address before he committed his second rape in 1980, and that he should not have freedom of movement as a transient.
Both the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff and the County District Attorney's office have also said they don't want Karsai in SLO County either.
Last March a judge removed San Luis Obispo County as an option for Karsai's placement.
